AMD to Launch AI Center in South Korea

According to AMD, the company plans to establish its first artificial intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence in Asia in South Korea by the end of this year. The center will serve as a hub for joint research, talent development, and expanded collaboration with the South Korean government and local companies to promote an open AI ecosystem.

AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su and South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon discussed the initiative in a joint commentary published Wednesday in South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper. Amid ongoing discussions about the rapid development of AI, they emphasized that openness and collaboration are essential to building AI systems that are faster, more efficient, and more sustainable.

The planned center will expand cooperation with leading South Korean universities and research institutions. Joint AI research will focus on scientific fields such as drug development, climate challenges, and energy. The initiative will also extend collaboration into physical AI applications, including manufacturing and robotics.

The center is also expected to provide young researchers with greater access to AI computing resources, enabling them to develop and test new projects.

In July, Su and Bae signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at AMD Advancing AI 2026 in San Francisco. The agreement aims to combine South Korea’s AI semiconductor capabilities with AMD’s high-performance computing technologies and global partnerships to develop an open and heterogeneous AI computing ecosystem.

Both sides said the future of AI will depend not only on the performance of individual technologies, but also on how effectively different technologies can work together. They believe an open ecosystem can give companies and countries greater technology choices while reducing reliance on a single technology or technology provider.